Harv72b:Triumph: If the O's and Yanks end the season tied, the tiebreaker is played at Camden Yards on Thursday. Loser of that plays in a one-game series on Friday. Talk about nerve-wracking.

And that wild card game could end up being in Oakland.

Only if the Yankees and O's each get swept or only win 1 game in the final series. If they each win 2 games, then the A's would need to sweep the Rangers to have the same record as them, and that would give the A's the division title outright, while the Yankees and Orioles would finish 1 game ahead of Texas, thus hosting the Wild Card game.

GEORGE: You know Keith, what I've always wondered, with all these ball clubs flying around all season don't you think there would be a plane crash? ...KEITH: (to Jerry) Do you perform anywhere in new York right now?JERRY: I'm performing in this club on the east Side. You should come in.GEORGE: But if you think about it...26 teams, 162 games a season, you'd think eventually an entire team would get wiped out.KEITH: You know, I live on the East Side.JERRY: I'll tell you what, I'll give you my number and uh, just give me a call, tell me whenever you want to go.KEITH: or maybe just to get together for a cup of coffeeJERRY: Oh. that would be great.GEORGE: It's only a matter of time.

mainstreet62:You're going to eventually have to go up against 1 of them if you advance.

Yup, hence the "so long as they can avoid it" part of my original comment.

mainstreet62:The Bestest: ..and you think a 5 game series against Tigers pitching is a better proposition?

Plus that.

Welcome to the playoffs, the playground of the best teams in baseball.

Believe it or not, I actually follow the Tigers fairly closely. I lived in Detroit for a few years and they are easily my second favorite team. That said, Verlander has had some really questionable starts in the 2nd half of this season and the only reason they are winning the division is that the Sox completely fell apart in the last week and a half. The Orioles took 2 of 3 in Detroit when they were the hottest team in the AL back in early August and are 6 games better than the Tigers despite playing in a much tougher division.

So yeah, I'd be much happier playing the Tigers than playing a one-game playoff against the Angels just to get to the Rangers.

mainstreet62:How many Orioles fans still have the tags on their merchandise?

I would guess a lot of them since they just brought back the cartoon bird this year. I have an old cartoon bird hat from 1985, but it doesn't fit and is pretty crusty.

Of course if you're implying that some of us weren't Orioles fans at the beginning of the seasons, I'd like to remind you that there was a thread at the beginning of the season where the rest of Fark was laughing at the Orioles for losing to a community college team. I'm too lazy to look that one up, but I believe my response was "I don't mind watching a losing team as long as they are entertaining or I can heckle them".

There was also a thread where ESPN "experts" predicted that every team in the AL East had a chance at the post season... except the Orioles. They had the Blue Jays, Rays, Yankees and Red Sox on their list.

degenerate-afro:There was also a thread where ESPN "experts" predicted that every team in the AL East had a chance at the post season... except the Orioles. They had the Blue Jays, Rays, Yankees and Red Sox on their list.

We've pretty much established that ESPN predictions are only good for laughing at at the end of the year.

The Bestest:degenerate-afro: There was also a thread where ESPN "experts" predicted that every team in the AL East had a chance at the post season... except the Orioles. They had the Blue Jays, Rays, Yankees and Red Sox on their list.

We've pretty much established that ESPN predictions are only good for laughing at at the end of the year.

Why? Given the information they had, those predictions made sense. And they got two of them right.They all know there will be surprise teams. But why bother trying to guess who it will be. They'd be laughed at more if they took a chance on Seattle or San Diego. Those teams made as much sense as the O's or A's in April.

Decillion:The Red Sox thing, sure. Really shows a bias. But the O's? In March 2012?

Things we knew the Orioles had before the season started:

- Legit 3-4 hitters (Adam Jones, Nick Markakis)- Players with a good shot at having a decent season (Wieters, JJ Hardy)- A slug of home runs courtesy of Mark Reynolds- A good bullpen- Buck Showalter, the +4 Homonculus of Baseball Improvement

Now, I won't lie, I didn't think they'd make the playoffs and I was waiting around for them to collapse until about the end of July. But this shouldn't really shock anyone. And you would think maybe one ore two guys would be willing to take the chance.

mainstreet62:You're going to eventually have to go up against 1 of them if you advance.

Theoretically the O's could win the East & lock up the #2 seed, play Detroit in the Division Series, and then face the Yankees in the ALCS.

Regardless, I think any Orioles fan is already ecstatic with the way this season has gone. If you'd polled the fan base back in March, pretty much everyone would have said they expected another last-place finish but would've been happy with 70+ wins and 4th place. Hell, if you'd polled them back in August they'd probably still have said that.

Harv72b:Regardless, I think any Orioles fan is already ecstatic with the way this season has gone. If you'd polled the fan base back in March, pretty much everyone would have said they expected another last-place finish but would've been happy with 70+ wins and 4th place. Hell, if you'd polled them back in August they'd probably still have said that.

As an O's fan, I'd say you are dead on! This year has been nothing short of amazing!

Al_Ed:Harv72b: Regardless, I think any Orioles fan is already ecstatic with the way this season has gone. If you'd polled the fan base back in March, pretty much everyone would have said they expected another last-place finish but would've been happy with 70+ wins and 4th place. Hell, if you'd polled them back in August they'd probably still have said that.

As an O's fan, I'd say you are dead on! This year has been nothing short of amazing!

I hate to say this, but I will be disappointed if the O's don't make it to the ALCS.

CaptainCampbell:As an O's fan, this is all pretty surreal. After all, I was a senior in high school the last time they were in the playoffs/had a winning season. Still, what an awesome feeling.

I registered for ALCS and World Series tickets this morning, provided we make it that far. Regardless of what happens from here on out, I'm proud of my O's. :)

Yeah, well imagine how crazy it is for this O's fan. I was still in middle school the last time they had a winning season. Indeed, I have never been around to see a World Series for this team (they won their last two months before I was born).

06Wahoo:Indeed, I have never been around to see a World Series for this team (they won their last two months before I was born).

I was 11, but we were living overseas at the time so my '83 World Series experience consisted of a bunch of Florida newspaper clippings that my grandmother mailed to us. Come to think of it, between my father's job & then my own enlistment, this will be the first time since 1979 that the Orioles have made the postseason when I was actually living in Maryland.